The Tome of Ancient Draconia
by FutileCrux
Summary: "As a beast knows duty instinctively, until thou learns, so shall thou be" A day of dusting on the Bounty goes horribly wrong and Jay and Nya discover there is more to their elemental summons than they supposed possible. (Slightly lime flavored) Author does not own Ninjago...only the plot and the pesky magic Tome.
1. Introduction

**The Tome of Ancient Draconia**

 _By FutileCrux_

 _Introduction:_

A crackling spitting ball of ferocious magic whizzed past her nose and Nya almost swore in frustration.

Ninjago had been peaceful for a year in the events following the whole Djinn War. Not that anyone besides herself and Jay remembered. She knew Jay hated magic with a passion and their shared love of mechanics and honest science united them on that front as well.

Nya was certain they'd both had enough experience with magic to last them a lifetime, but a day spent cleaning Wu's library on the Bounty was more exciting than either of them had bargained.

This new evil wasn't really a villain, just a highly vindictive magic artifact that probably didn't appreciate that they hadn't dusted it in…well ages.

Said book spat another ball of vitriol at her and she would have been hit if a sudden rush of familiar blue hadn't swamped her vision and pushed both of them out of the way.

"Cole is in so much trouble for this."

Nya huffed as she looked up into the eyes of Jay who grinned at her as he pushed himself into a roll dodge.

"Cole never dusts Nya…you know that. He skips every time and I think the Tome of Ancient Draconia has finally had enough."

Said tome screeched vengefully and flapped its pages at them.

Nya summoned a water blast, "Well let's give it a good cleaning then!"

Horrifed Jay turned to leap back towards her.

"Nya! It's a book! Don't use…"

The water shot in a forceful spiral and the Tome of Ancient Draconia dodged, opening its pages with a bellow of rage.

Two shining golden dragon heads emerged. The magical odor of traveler's tea seemed to emanate from them. A forceful mind projection seized Nya, as the jaws of one golden head clamped down on her, voices echoing at her in thunderous unison.

" **As a beast knows duty instinctively, until thou learns so shall thou be."**

"Nya!"

Jays panicked voice was the last thing she heard before the great golden head dragged her into the Tome of Ancient Draconia.

A/N: My my what trouble is this. Ninjago is of my favorite cartoon series (movie not included), so I needed to write a story for it. This tale is mostly completed and will be updated twice weekly until complete. If this pleases you review.


	2. Chapter One: Dragoness Dilemma

**Chapter One: Dragoness Dilemma**

Nya could feel her body changing. Magic hummed through her and her element hissed and subsided like waves breaking on the shore. The words of the Tome echoed through her mind.

" **As a beast knows duty instinctively until thou learns so shall thou be…so shall thou be…so shall thou….BE!"**

The golden magic attacking her subsided and Nya became aware she was falling. The world that stretched out beneath her was water as far as the eyes could see…except the large island that hove into view as she fell through the sky.

Fear swept through Nya's heart as her death sped toward her. She flailed in the sky and along her spine something rippled and snapped with the wet crack of an egg shell split open.

Her pain was so abrupt it drove the breath from her chest. Sails flapped lazily to either side of her as she began to glide toward the sea.

When her limbs touched water it felt like a caress. Her element welcomed her into its embrace as she dipped slightly under the waves then surfaced. The large mountainous island loomed close on the horizon and Nya struck out toward it.

Her strokes moved her much faster through the water than normal and she received the shock of her life when one webbed claw hooved into view. Her surprise came out in a bellow, rippling from jaws. Long slender muzzle opening and shutting she paused in her paddling to peer at her reflection. In between the movements of the waves, Nya realized what the magic of the tome had done.

"I'm a…it turned me into?"

She was a dragon. A dragon of rain and seas.

That dratted tome had a serious deficiency. Banishment for forgetting to dust it seemed extreme, but turning her into a dragon?

She swam through choppy breakers that bounced off her iridescent blue-green scales, using her tail as both propulsion and rudder. She breached through the currents into a wide deep bay that seemed to eat into the island, surrounded by high walls of stone. Trees grew towards the center.

She touched sand and dragged her tired frame from the surf. Despair overtook her. What on earth did this book want her to do? Her duty? What the hey now was a dragons duty? Confusion and fear ripped a cry from her throat. Half bellow half screech and all terror.

Nya refused to allow the panic to consume her. She curled her body into a compact bundle on the sand and began her contemplations. First she needed to rest then she could begin to figure out what was expected of her in this strange realm.

When she awoke the moon shone down in a cloudless sky. Though on the far horizon lighting flashed over the sea. Nya stretched and arched her frame and instinctively spread her wings.

They were a rippling pearly green blue and her spines and claws were sea foam white. She fanned her wings experimentally and the gust kicked up sand with each downstroke.

Hunger coursed through her belly and she looked to the ocean. It was an undeniable need her body had at the moment. The ocean beckoned and with only momentary hesitation she dove into the waves. Swimming it seemed, would be easier for her than flight.

Silver scales flashed in the water and Nya filled her belly with the wiggling darting fish. Catching them with sharp backward slanting teeth. Fighting down her initial nausea was easier than she anticipated. Hunger helped.

"Its just like Sushi, Nya, really fresh sushi."

She was well suited to this new body. Her body adjusted to teeth and claws far easier than she thought was possible. The glowing change had reached far deeper than skin.

Resting atop the waves Nya surveyed her new domain. The far east side of the island was mountainous and in the dark the smoldering glow on one of the peaks told her a volcano was active there. The opposite side was as bright in the moonlight as the stars, white snow reflecting off the peaks. She could see the entrance to the bay she had instinctively swum into after the change.

Behind her bay and between was a bare stone expanse. That was all she could see from her position gently bobbing in the waves.

She turned in a frustrated circle in the waves and unfurled her wings. Beating them as hard as she could, she forced herself from the waves. The wind rushing around her encouraged her efforts and doubling down she forced herself forward and up into the star-filled sky.

For a moment she forgot her predicament as the pure wonder of flight overtook her. The sea and sky were hers alone and she flew through them exultantly. From her position she could see the entirety of the island and now surrounding the entirety of it from horizon to horizon a lighting storm the likes of which she had never witnessed.

Nya swung her elegant muzzle toward the volcano.

"Fire"

The rocky middle of the island.

"Earth"

The glistening peaks.

"Ice"

Her little inlet.

"Water."

And lastly golden eyes flitted to the storm laden sky.

"Lightning…Oh, Jay."

The island and seas and sky teemed with life and Nya knew that Lloyds element was present as well.

But it was the sparking skies that drew her thoughts. Had Jay subdued the angry tome? Was he talking to their family and figuring out how to reverse this situation?

Frustration in her predicament surfaced and Nya roared and dove. Wings folded and plunging through the sky she plummeted towards the island. As the ground rushed up to greet her she spread her wings with a snap. Flying low she skimmed over the rocky portion of the mountain. A bone shaking bellow sounded from beneath her.

Two stony shapes darted up from the mountains.

Nya's shock prevented her from dodging. The smaller dragon hit her like a literal ton of bricks. Her strength sagged against the solid earth element. The larger dragon came on a bit slower snapping jaws and blasting dusty breath making her wings feel leaden.

She turned in the sky and beat a frantic retreat towards the shore.

The pair followed her angry and determined.

Nya flew like her life depended on it. She reached the stretch of forest between the rocky expanse and her cove and dove into the trees.

The earth dragons turned at the forest edge, circling back to their territory. Nya panted in the cool of the forest, feeling despair and loneliness settle upon her spirit.

No dragons inhabited her tiny cove, but if she had encountered earth dragons then it was safe to assume there were others.

Sorrow pierced her soul. What duty was she expected to fulfill…a ninja's duty was to protect those who could not protect themselves…but she was no ninja here. She was a dragon. The waves hissed and retreated in her cove, the sound comforting. At least her element had not deserted her.

She stared at the stormy skies in the distance and knew that Jay wouldn't either.

A/N: I do not own Ninjago, but I do own some of the Lego sets. If this pleases you review!


	3. Chapter 2: Dragoness Duty

**Chapter 2: Dragoness Duty**

Now Nya's first order of business was to figure out what she was supposed to do. A dragons duty? She had no idea. She had taken her wings to the fiery side of island and encountered a pair of Kai's flaming counterparts. She did see a single earth dragon along the border, but no water dragons. Every dragon couple she spotted turned her away with flame, dust, or ice respectively. Sometimes a mix of two elements along the border territories.

Dragons it seemed did not have elemental preferences when it came to pairing.

Nya couldn't seem to get close enough to observe the behavior of any of the couples either. She tried several times in hopes of shedding light on her current situation. The first earned her a burn on her nose that still smarted…and although she wasn't spotted the second or third time, intel gathering is rather less successful from afar.

Instinct drove her back to her cove. No couples had claimed it. It was hers and hers alone. She spent the rest of the day combing the entirety of it. Caves pocketed the edges and sea birds nested there.

She found a cave above the high tide line that was deep and large enough for several dragons. Sniffing carefully around the interior, she discovered it smelled only of the sea and her own dragons scent. Nya investigated a cozy niche in the side wall and discovered a nest of dried beachwood and seaweed. It was disturbingly familiar, but her prowling had exhausted her so curling into her bed with a sigh, the water dragon went to sleep.

The morning sun peeping into the cave woke her. Raising a sleepy face to the entrance, Nya yawned and stretched. A delicate sniff brought the scents of her bay and something else. Musty, ancient, brittle…fury unfurled her wings. Another dragon was on her territory.

Bounding out of the cave she roared her challenge.

The bellow died in her throat.

On the sand of her cove curled Wu's ancient dragon. His eyes laughed at her brazen display. He opened his mouth and spoke into her mind.

"Well met, water ninja….well, water dragon."

The grin in his words was undeniable.

"Sensei."

It felt strange to open ones mouth, but to have ones thoughts speak instead. Wu's dragon bared his teeth in a dragon smile.

"I am your sensei's dragon, but my name is Sennen."

Nya sat back on her haunches all thoughts of attacking gone. Hope raised its glimmering head.

"Sennen, do you know what I am supposed to be doing here?"

Sennen stood from where he'd been crouched. His old joints creaked loudly enough for her to hear as sand cascaded from his scales. He looked nothing like the other dragons, being long whiskered and wingless. His white and gold scales were dull, but his blue eyes on her were bright.

"Catch me some of your good fish water dragon and I will tell you."

Nya plunged eagerly into the water, splashing through the shallows and diving into the deeper portion of her cove. She swam through the water far more gracefully than she flew through the air and was hunting a shoal of silverfins before they realized a dragon was upon them.

She caught a large mouthful and opened her wings to spring from water to sky. On the shore Sennen watched and waited. When Nya dropped in front of him with a mouthful she didn't think she imagined the approval in his eyes. Her catch spilled before him and she took a respectful step back while he ate. The old dragon didn't bother chewing. He swallowed his fish whole in meditative gulps.

When they were gone Sennen lay back down on the warm sand.

"My thanks water dragon. You will pass the challenge of Draconia in time."

Nya rested on slim haunches before him.

"And the challenge is?"

Sennen crossed his front claws, "The challenge of the Tome of Ancient Draconia is thus. First, recognize a dragons duty to their element, second, defend that duty from all comers, thirdly, raise the successors of that duty. Then and only then will the Tome release its hold upon you."

Nya's tail swished a ripple in the sand, "I don't suppose I can refuse?"

The ancient dragon stood. "No, for the challenge has been issued ninja of water and cannot be rescinded. Treat your dragon self with respect for she becomes you and your duty is to understand her life beyond that time she spends in your service. Too long have you and your brothers neglected the needs of your elemental summons."

Nya was pierced with sudden clarity. The graceful frame she inhabited now was painfully familiar.

"Of, course…"

Her elemental dragon. Her inner dragon. Another conscience pushed gently against hers, slumbering peacefully.

Sennen's eyes softened at her lightning-struck stare.

"As long as you do what's best for her your water dragon will sleep. But be wary…should you neglect her needs you will face her wrath. Defend her territory, chose a mate, raise her hatchlings. Understand her life seasons for this year and her bond to you will grow stronger and your connection to your element deeper."

Nya's wings drooped in despair. A year away from her friends and family…almost as much time lost as she had lost with the whole Djinn disaster. What would Jay think of her after such a long absence? She'd been a horrible girlfriend to him once…and had no desire to be such a self-centered, feminist jerk ever again.

"But, if I fail?"

Sennen narrowed his eyes, "You must not. She requires your commitment for this time. Too long have the elemental masters neglected their duty to their elemental dragons."

Nya flared her wings in distress, "My family…"

The ancient dragon cackled. "Your parents did their duty. Both in this world and their own. Other elements were not so fortunate. The lightning dragons have almost faded from our plane. The more dragons of each element that exist the stronger you will become."

More questions crowded Nya's mind, but before she could say another word Sennen whipped his head to the sky.

"I am summoned. Be well water dragon and choose wisely."

He disappeared in a flurry of golden energy, not unlike Wu or Lloyds and Nya felt her heart tremble at the responsibility now resting upon her.

The words of the Tome made sense now. She needed to fulfill her duty to her elemental summon. To defend well, choose well, and raise well. Her needs would have to take a back seat to that of her dragoness.

Despair and sorrow filled Nya's own soul…she would have to choose a wild elemental dragon and allow him to…She keened her sorrow to the sky.

All she could think of was Jay.

A/N: Poor Nya, be strong.

Sennen is Japanese for Thousand and bless Wu if he doesn't look like he's that old. The idea for this tale stems from the elemental dragons each Master possesses and of course I wanted to drag some ninja through into their realm. I love books (even vindictive magical ones) so this story was born.

Thank you dearest Reviewers for entertaining my tale. If this pleases you review…and tell me your favorite elemental master from Ninjago. Definitely lots of them to choose from. =)


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